Procedure for the draft of the assessment method (Scoping)
If EIA is carried out at an early stage of the project, modifications can be made more flexibly and
EIA is expected to be more effective.
In addition, the environmental impacts of the project differ from place to place and EIA needs to be
made by taking the local situation into account. For example, with road construction projects, the issues
to be dealt with for environmental protection differ between, for example, a proposed road in a naturerich
mountainous region, and one in an intensively developed and air-polluted urban region.
With those two points borne in mind, opportunities should be given to hear opinions from the
citizens and local governments before deciding the assessment method. By collecting the opinions at the
earlier stage of the project, those opinions are able to be considered in selecting the evaluation items, and
as a result the project can be assessed in a more site-oriented way.
This procedure is called“scoping”.
The project proponent prepares the“scoping document”that describes the assessment method, and
sends it to the prefectural governor and the municipal mayors. The scoping document is a blueprint for
the EIA design, which shows how the survey, forecast and evaluation in the EIA are to be conducted.
The proponent publicly notifies the document and allows anyone to see it at local government offices and
the proponent’s offices for a period of one month.
Anyone who has an opinion about the scoping document can make a submission. The project
proponent sends the summaries of those opinions to the prefectural and municipal governments. Later,
the prefectural governor expresses his /her opinion to the project proponent after hearing the opinions
from the municipal mayors, while also taking into account the opinions from the general public.
The project proponent decides the assessment method giving due consideration to these opinions.